He only felt that if he moved his head slightly forward, he could kiss his wife’s face. His inner struggle was intense, and his cheeks were unconsciously heating up.
"Is the egg very hot?" Xiaoxiao noticed that her cheap husband’s face was somewhat red. She was afraid the egg might have been too hot, so she asked.
"..." Had his wife noticed? He said awkwardly, "It’s not hot."
Xiaoxiao played with the egg for a while longer, feeling that it had cooled down, "Okay, done with the compress."
Yang Ming hadn’t even gotten the chance to lean in when his wife got up and left. He just felt like time had passed too quickly.
"By tomorrow, it should be unnoticeable. If people at the academy see it, that would be terrible. They’ll definitely think you were hit by your wife, haha."
Xiaoxiao joked around, half-considering the idea as a possibility.
"Heh." Yang Ming chuckled. After what happened last night in front of the academy, everyone should know by now that she is his wife.
Speaking of the academy, Xiaoxiao suddenly thought it would be wise to inquire about her cheap husband’s academic progress. Watching him study day after day seemed exhausting. When exactly were the exams? She had no idea about this at all.
"Husband, when are you taking the imperial examination?"
"Next autumn!" Yang Ming hadn’t expected his wife to ask about the exams. He thought she knew.
"What?" Xiaoxiao stood up abruptly, utterly surprised, "Why so late?"
"The provincial exam is held every three years."
"..." Oh my, oh my, waiting three years to take an exam seemed so troublesome. "So if you fail, you have to wait another three years to retake it?"
"Yes." Yang Ming nodded. That’s why he had to work hard and try to pass on his first attempt.
"..." How resolute one must be, repeating the cycle every three years. No wonder most officials were older; it was indeed challenging to qualify. Just the thought of repeating a year made her feel like it dragged on forever, yet they had to wait three years.
"So, if you pass, do you become the top scholar?"
"..." His wife seemed overly eager for him to become the top scholar. He was still far from it; he was only a scholar, "No, the provincial exam is for selecting licentiates."
"..." It wasn’t for the top scholar. She had heard of Fan Jin passing the exam in his fifties, only to become a licentiate. By that account, the provincial exam seemed quite tough to pass. Could her cheap husband manage?
"Then, after becoming a licentiate, can you attempt for the top scholar?"
"..." It seemed like her eyes were only set on the top scholar. She wouldn’t really wait until he became one before she acknowledged him, would she? "No, after the provincial exam comes the metropolitan exam, and only then the palace exam."
After hearing this, Xiaoxiao felt dizzy. Why were there so many exams here? She remembered the TV dramas depicted scholars going straight for the top scholar. TV shows really couldn’t be trusted.
So many exams, and not something you could pass in one go, but instead waiting three years each time – becoming the top scholar really seemed difficult.
"Husband, let’s not bother with it. By the time we’re done, we’ll be old men."
"..." Did his wife think he wouldn’t pass?
Xiaoxiao felt people were truly different. How could her cheap husband love studying so much? If it were her, she would just lie down and stare at the sky rather than study—no wonder she was an academic slacker.
"Alright, work hard."
If he loved to study, she couldn’t stop him. She’d support him then, suddenly feeling like she would be nurturing a Ph.D. candidate.